


Black Resin

by TheGodofSmut



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Biting, Blood and Gore, Cannibalism, Cannibalistic Thoughts, Childhood Friends, Cults, Demon Summoning, Demonic Possession, Demons, Eventual Romance, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, First Kiss, Flashbacks, Friends to Lovers, Gay Sex, Grief/Mourning, Heavy Angst, Interspecies Romance, Light Dom/sub, Love Bites, Love Confessions, M/M, Mating Bites, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Non-Human Humanoid Society, Oral Sex, Outdoor Sex, Rough Sex, Semi-Public Sex, Shapeshifting, Sleeping Together, Werewolf Biology, Werewolf Bites, Werewolf Culture, Werewolves, Wolf Instincts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:53:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28824027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGodofSmut/pseuds/TheGodofSmut
Summary: Bad things happen to good people. Kani learned this the hard way and now he has to live with his consequences and his failures.
Relationships: Original Female Character & Original Male Character, Original Female Character/Original Male Character, Original Male Character & Original Male Character, Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Kudos: 8





	1. The House

_ The pinewood swing gently swayed back and forth as the boy dug his red sneakers into the sun-dried mud. The swing’s chains were tarnished and crusted with red rust that felt gritty under the boy’s palms. The boy grunted in annoyance as the particles of dust he had stirred flew to his face and he coughed.  _

_ He heard the swing adjacent to his creak and he looked to his right, seeing another boy about the same age as him. The young stranger had a slimmer build and his head was ablaze with fiery red hair, not at all like the boy’s smoldering black hair. Though he had bangs that came down above his eyes, the boy could see the stranger’s blue eyes, reminiscent of the cold winter and a clear contrast to his hair.  _

_ “Uh, hello?” he said to the stranger, giving a short wave and a smile that revealed his missing front tooth. The stranger looked up upon hearing his voice and turned to face him, observing the boy with his cold blue eyes.  _

_ “H- Hello,” he answered in a meek voice and looked down at his hands, which were folded together on his lap.  _

_ The boy swung his feet up and down to make the swing move back and forth. “What’s your name?” The other boy’s mouth moved but he didn’t hear him speak. “What?” _

_ “My name is Gaven…”  _

_ “That’s a cool name,” the boy laughed. “Mine is Kani.”  _

_ Several moments of silence had passed before Gaven replied. “I have to go soon.” _

_ “Aw, but you just got here!” _

_ “Dad doesn’t like it when I have friends.”  _

_ Kani made a confused grimace. “Why not?”  _

_ Gaven shrugged and said, “I dunno. He gives me this weird look whenever he sees me with somebody.” He began to fidget with his hands, pulling at his skin and squeezing his fingers.  _

_ “Is that your dad?” he asked, pointing to the large, red-headed man that was standing near an oak tree. He was staring at the boys with his hands tucked into the pockets of his worn jeans.  _

_ “Yes… Please don’t point at him.”  _

_ Kani put his hand down and hid it between his thighs. “Sorry.” He thought for a moment before speaking again. “So… what’s your favorite animal?” _

_ Gaven beamed at him. “Wolves.”  _

_ “Really?” _

_ “I like their family structure. It’s really misunderstood by everyone,” he said. “What’s your favorite?”  _

_ Kani shrugged. “Creepy crawlies, I guess.”  _

_ Gaven laughed. “Eww, why?”  _

_ “I dunno. Probably because I always go out in my backyard and dig up worms ‘n stuff.” _

_ Gaven heard his dad call out his name and he jumped off of the swing, patting himself down to rid his clothes of any dust that was picked up. “I gotta go home.”  _

_ Kani put his hand up as a way to stop him. “Wait! Will we see each other again?”  _

_ Gaven stood there for a moment before he smiled. “Yeah, we can see each other.”  _

_ Satisfied with his answer, Kani let his hand fall to his side. “I guess we can meet here next time.” Gaven nodded and jogged to where his dad was standing, leaving Kani watching him from the swingset as he left.  _

* * *

Kani jolted awake in his bed when the obnoxious blaring of his alarm clock had begun. His legs were tangled in a mess of white bedsheets and he pulled them away to free himself. As his body adjusted to the sudden awakening, he sat on the edge of his mattress and buried his face into his hands. 

“That dream…” he muttered, struggling to remember every part of it. He was at the playground. With Gaven… 

Four years ago, Gaven had gone missing from the small town they grew up in along with his parents. At the surface level, people simply believed that they had moved to another city, but the police and even Kani had their own suspicions. The circumstances of the family’s situation itself were suspicious. Rumors had went around in middle school that Gaven was harassed and beaten by his father, even subjected to sexual abuse. Of course, no one thought anything serious of it since he had always downplayed the bruises as a side effect of playing sports. 

Kani sighed into his hands and lifted his head, looking around his room now that he was fully awake. It was dark for a winter morning; the sun had barely peeked over the horizon and the crescent moon was still visible in the sky. He got to his feet, shuffling the soles over the soft carpet and curling his toes. He smiled at the tickling sensation. 

After stretching his arms and legs, Kani rummaged through his closet for clean clothes to wear for the day. He settled on a black T-shirt with a worn out  _ Bleach _ logo and a pair of gray jeans. Then he made his way to the bathroom so he could comb his hair and brush his teeth. Midway through his morning routine, his little sister had barged into the bathroom. 

“Move over, I gotta brush my teeth!” she yelled as she moved her wooden stool in front of the sink and stepped onto it. 

He spat a mix of saliva and toothpaste into the sink bowl and wiped his mouth. “Lily! You’re supposed to wait until I’m done!” 

“I have to go to school,” she said as she stood on her toes to reach her toothbrush. 

“You can still wait until I’m done,” he huffed. “What if I was peeing?” 

“Why would you be peeing with the door open?” Lily asked bluntly, grimacing at her brother. Lily squeezed her blue bubblegum-flavored toothpaste onto her purple toothbrush and placed it under running water before brushing her teeth. 

Kani adjusted his black hair, sweeping aside the strands that had fallen in front of his eyes. He smiled in contentment over his appearance and travelled downstairs to the kitchen. 

His mother was standing in the kitchen as she prepared his sister’s lunchbox. She was a stout woman in her forties with black hair that framed her round face.  _ “Ohayō, Kani-kun.” _

“ _ Ohayō, Ka-san,” _ he responded as he approached her and hugged her briefly. 

“Are you going to eat breakfast?” she asked. “You are so skinny, Kani. You look like a ghost.”

“I’ll get some from the school, Mom,” he answered, giving her a reassuring smile and grabbing his black and white Converses. 

“Kani,” his mother said. 

“Yes?”

“Be careful. There are crazy things being committed by crazy people in this world.” 

“Yes, Mom.”

Kani made sure his shoes fit comfortably tight before he went to grab his backpack. The bag was decorated with a variety of metal pins that he had bought from the local novelty store. One of them had caught his eye and he chuckled softly. The pin was small and black with a white human skull; the skull had short horns that curve upward and fangs protruding from the mouth. Seeing the pin had caused a recent memory to emerge: he had brought his girlfriend to the mall on their second date and they went inside the novelty shop. As he was looking around, she had called him over to the box of pins and showed him that exact pin, saying that she thought it fit his style. 

Kani smiled warmly at the memory and he slung his backpack onto his shoulders after checking each pocket briefly. Then he went outside and shut the door behind him. He began his morning walk to the high school, which was nearly a mile away from his house. He took the same route everyday but today, he had decided to do something different. Kani went in the opposite direction. That’s where Gaven’s house was, just a block or so down the street. He wanted to see if they had really left and a new family had moved in. 

Walking in this direction flooded Kani with memories of his childhood. He saw his ten-year-old self running down the street with a water gun and soaking his friends’ clothes. He chuckled softly and saw his fourteen-year-old self throwing a basketball into his friend’s hoop on the concrete driveway. 

It was sooner than he thought that Kani found himself standing on the front lawn of Gaven’s old house. The vegetation seemed to be thriving under their free reign; the grass had grown up to Kani’s knees and there were a variety of weeds that had sprung from the cracks between the concrete. Kani rested his chocolate-brown eyes upon the house itself. It was worn down over years of being neglected; the paint on the outside had started to reveal the house’s true color in torn streaks and the porch was drenched in old cobwebs that drifted to where the wind blew. The windows were closed and the panes were covered in brown dust. As Kani walked in a circle around the house, he discovered that the first floor bathroom window was open. 

“How could that be open?” he asked himself as he approached it, standing on his toes to peek inside. The bathroom looked as abandoned as the outside of the house. The family’s toothbrushes were still on the sink and the shampoo bottles stood up in the metal basket that was attached to the shower wall. “It’s like they didn’t even throw it out…” 

Kani looked around the neighborhood before he bent his legs at a right angle and sprang up, latching onto the window frame and pulling himself up. Once he was over the frame, he jumped onto the ground with a hard  _ thud _ and he groaned. He picked himself up off the dusty linoleum floor and wiped his hands on his pants. Kani looked around the bathroom and saw his reflection in the mirror; there was a long crack splitting his face in two that branched into smaller, thinner fractures. 

He heard something fall in another room and he traced the source to the kitchen. It was just a paper towel roll, unraveling across the floor, but… how did it fall? None of the kitchen windows are open so it couldn’t have been the wind. Kani knelt down to gather it together when he saw a dark puddle a few inches near the sheet. It was black, but he could see some red highlights when he looked from a certain angle.

“Is that… blood?” he asked. “Did an animal get in here?” _. _

Kani caught a glimpse of his watch from the corner of his eye and cursed himself. “Dammit, I’m gonna be late if I don’t leave now!”

He stood up and left through the back door, which was already unlocked. He could’ve sworn that every outside door had been locked after Gaven’s family had moved away. He saw it happen himself when he was younger; the police had finished up investigating the house and a detective was the last person to leave, locking the front door with the family’s key. 

Why were the police there?

* * *

Kani stopped in front of the school’s main doors and inhaled the crisp morning air before he headed inside. He was met with warm air that smelled of today’s breakfast - sausage patties with biscuits and to-go cereal cups. His stomach rumbled slowly so he joined the line of students that were gradually building up their plastic trays with food. As Kani waited for the people in front of him to finish, he began to place what he wanted onto his tray. A small carton of white milk that had a dent on its bottom corner, a sausage patty that was a misshapen circle, and a plastic cup of Lucky Charms. 

Kani came to the end of the line and he went to the vending machine to buy a bottle of Sierra Mist. After he tucked it into the side pocket of his backpack, he scanned the cafeteria for his friends. He spotted them sitting at their usual spot, a circular table that was positioned near one of the four corners of the cafeteria. 

Kani placed his tray on the table and sat down, sliding his backpack off of his shoulders. He tore the cereal’s wrapping off and poured some milk into it. As he scooped spoonfuls of cereal into his mouth, he looked around the cafeteria for any sign of his girlfriend. She was taller than most of the girls and even some of the boys. Her hair was black with red streaks, always tied up in messy pigtails with choppy bangs that covered her forehead. She usually wore black clothes with white or red accents. 

“Hey, dipshit.” He heard a voice call out to him from the left. When he turned his head to see who the voice belonged to, he responded with a delighted smile. 

“Hey, Lilith,” he greeted. “I was looking for you.” 

Lilith pulled out the lollipop in her mouth with an audible  _ pop _ and grinned at him. “I know.”

“Did you get breakfast?”

“Fuck no. I would never eat from here, not even if someone paid me.”

He chuckled. “What if they had a million dollars?”

“Tempting but no.”

Kani looked at the clock that hung from the wall closest to them and gathered his trash into one pile. “Be right back, I have to throw this away.” He stood up and carried his trash to the large, gray trash can that sat in the middle of the cafeteria. He dumped everything into the black bag and placed the tray on the counter where everyone else’s dirty plates went. 

Kani came back to the table and grabbed his backpack, sliding his arms through the straps and adjusting his shirt. He looked to Lilith and she gave him a wave to lead the way. 

“How are your classes?” he asked as he walked her to her first period class. 

Lilith scoffed and looked at him with a smile. “Everyone there is annoying.”

“Aw, I don’t think  _ everyone _ could be annoying. Aren’t there any people you tolerate?” 

She shrugged. “A couple, yeah. Damien from Anatomy, Mara from Intro to Psych, and Samuel from Myth and Folklore.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve seen you hanging out with them,” he said. “Wasn’t Damien the person who ate one of the frogs we dissected?” 

She laughed. “Yeah, he’s a dumbass.” 

“Did he get suspended for it?”

“Nah, the teacher left the room to do something and he told everyone he threw it away.”

Kani saw her teacher waiting outside of the classroom as he welcomed his students inside. He turned to Lilith and said, “Well, I’ve gotta leave. I’ll see you at lunchtime, okay?”

“Yeah,” she said with a nod. They embraced each other and he kissed her cheek before he turned around and headed to his class. 

Kani waved to his teacher as he went inside and looked for his assigned desk, which was positioned on the right side and was at the end of the middle row. The desks were double-seated so he sat with another person. His partner was a boy that was about his age with dark brown hair that was swept to the left and eyes that were a mix of green, brown, and gray. 

“Hey,” the boy greeted when Kani pulled his chair out. “Did you do last night’s homework?”

“Yeah,” Kani answered, hanging his backpack on the chair and unzipping the main compartment. He reached inside and pulled out his folder and notebook. “Did you?”

“Yep. I might’ve skipped a few problems but it’s mostly completed.” 

“Do you want help before class starts?”

“Sure.” Kani helped him finish the last few problems, explaining what to do but letting the boy write down the work. They were done right when the class bell rang and their teacher partially closed the door, keeping it ajar for any students who were late. 

The teacher moved in front of the projector screen and clasped his hands together. “Alright, ladies and gents. First thing you need to do is take last night’s homework out so I can collect it. If you have not finished, you have ten minutes to get it done.”

“Good thing we already did,” Kani chuckled quietly to his partner. 

The rest of his day went on as it always did. Four classes later, it was his lunch period and Kani went to the cafeteria. He breathed in the scent of pepperoni pizza and mashed potatoes as he walked past the kitchen. He was searching for Lilith’s head amongst the crowd of students sitting down. He spotted her black and red hair with a group of three others: a boy with black hair that was a mess of curls, a girl with platinum blonde hair that was tied into pigtails, and another boy with light brown hair that was cut short. 

“Hey,” Kani greeted, waving his hand at the group. “Lilith, do you wanna sit with me at my table?”

She looked up at him and bit her bottom lip. “Uh, sorry… I can’t stay for long, we need to go to the library after we eat lunch. Maybe tomorrow?”

“But… tomorrow is Saturday.”

She slapped her palm against her forehead and laughed. “Oh, right! Sorry, it’s been a long week. Mara is throwing a party, though. Wanna come?” She gestured to the blonde girl that was sitting next to her.

Kani scratched the back of his neck and looked around nervously. “I’d have to ask my mom…”

“It’s fine if you can’t.” 

He looked at her and seemed more determined now. “No, I will try to.”

Lilith smiled, though the way the corners of her mouth turned made it look like a smirk. “Alright. See you then.”

Kani smiled back and went off to find his friends to tell them the good news.


	2. The Party

_The teacher’s voice beckoned them to come inside as the rain poured down on the playground. The sound of children splashing through the puddles could be heard amidst the rolling thunder, accompanied by the crackle of white volts of lightning. The teacher scolded a student for stomping in a puddle and splattering mud onto her white skirt._

_“Too bad we can’t stay out in the rain…” Kani sighed as he watched the rain droplets travel down the class window with a forlorn expression. Gaven was sitting next to him, doodling on a blank paper with a black crayon._

_“I dunno why you would. It’s icky outside,” the red-headed boy said, pausing to examine his work in progress._

_Kani shrugged. “There’s something comforting about the rain… Like it exists to bring us together.”_

_“That’s an interesting way of looking at it.”_

_He looked over to Gaven, glancing at his paper. It was a black wolf that was crying a river of blue. “Have you ever played in the rain before?”_

_“No…”_

_“Would you like to play in the rain with me?”_

_Gaven thought for a moment and shrugged. “I guess.”_

_They waited until the teacher led every kid outside at the end of the day. Gaven reached for the umbrella his mother had given him and pushed it open before the rain pelted their bodies. Kani pressed against the right of his body, trying to stay underneath the umbrella. Compared to Gaven, he was a few inches taller, so he was slightly bent over._

_“You’re leaning against me,” Gaven said softly._

_“Yeah?”_

_He bit his lip but he didn’t say anything more on the matter._

_“Where do you live?” Kani asked after a few minutes of awkward silence._

_“Why do you wanna know?”_

_“So I can protect you on your way there.” Gaven abruptly stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and Kani looked at him. “What?”_

_The red-headed boy shook his head and sighed. “Please don’t be a fairytale prince for me.”_

_Kani raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest. “Why not?”_

_“I don’t want you getting hurt because of me.”_

_“I won’t,” he said with a confident smile. Gaven rolled his eyes and continued walking, grabbing Kani’s wrist to pull him along._

* * *

A crack of thunder in the distance pulled Kani’s mind away from his thoughts and into the real world. He looked around his environment as he got his bearings. He was in his room, laying on top of his mattress with a quilt draped over his legs. It was dark, the only light in his room coming from what little moonlight peered in through his window. He reached his hand out to touch the light but it was far away, so he got out of bed to part his curtains and let it flood his room. 

Kani stood there in silence, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath as he basked in the moonlight. He heard the first few raindrops hit the roof and he opened his eyes to watch the clouds. In the night, they seemed to blend in with the sky. Kani’s eyes actively searched for the moon and found it partially hidden behind a cloud. 

_I wonder if Gaven is looking at the moon right now,_ he thought to himself. _If he even dreams about me…_

Kani shook his head and sighed. “If he’s even alive…” He turned around and slid underneath the covers, pulling his blanket over his shoulders. He rolled onto his side and curled into a fetal position. He stared at the moon for a few more seconds before closing his eyes. 

He woke up the next morning and went downstairs to see if his mother was awake. Seeing that she wasn’t, he went to the kitchen to make breakfast for his family. He figured they’d wake up to the smell of eggs and rice. Kani opened the cupboards above his head and grabbed a bag of white rice. He used an eight ounce measuring cup to scoop three portions of rice into a large bowl. He ran it under warm water to rinse the rice grains thoroughly, eventually leaving some water for them to soak in. 

As he waited for the rice to cook, Kani went to the refrigerator to grab the salmon they kept stored on the bottom shelf. As he prepared the fish, he pretended to be a professional chef in a chef’s counter. He used a fish scaler to scrape off the salmon’s scales, mumbling to himself in Japanese as though he was narrating what he was doing for his imaginary customer. He used a sharp knife to cut the salmon’s head off and set it aside. “I can use that for soup later.” 

He began to fillet both sides of the fish, cutting through the small pin bones with audible cracks. He meticulously felt the flesh for them and used his fingers to pull each bone out, throwing all of them into the trash can. He cut the fillets into smaller portions and laid them out, using a basting brush to glaze them with sake and sprinkling salt. 

Kani placed the salmon pieces onto a tray lined with foil and a thin layer of olive oil and preheated the oven. As he waited for that, he turned his attention to the rice. He used a strainer to drain the water and let the grains sit for fifteen minutes. That’s about the time he checked the oven and placed the salmon inside before he dumped the rice into a pot. He poured some water into it and placed it on top of the stove to cook. 

Just as Kani predicted, he heard Lily’s footsteps as she came downstairs. She walked into the kitchen, rubbing her sleepy eyes with her hands. “You’re making breakfast?”

He nodded and smiled at her. “I am.”

“What are you making?” she asked, standing on her toes to see over the counter. 

_“Tamago kake gohan_ and _shiozake,”_ he answered. 

“What?”

He chuckled softly. “Steamed rice with an egg yolk and salted salmon. I learned it from a few recipes online.”

“That sounds like a weird breakfast,” she said, grimacing a little.

“Maybe that’s because you always eat blueberry pancakes and Fruit Loops.” 

“Fruit Loops are good, though…” 

“Do you want to be my cooking assistant?” he asked enthusiastically. 

Lily idly bounced on her toes as she thought it over. “Um… okay!” 

“When the rice is done being steamed, I’m going to put it into bowls for the three of us. You have to take an egg and crack it so the yolk comes out.” 

“The _whole_ yolk?”

He nodded. “The whole yolk. Even the big yellow blob.” He went to get a stool for his sister to stand on and he waited for the salmon and rice to finish. As he finished breakfast with the help of Lily, their mother came into the kitchen. 

“Kani? You are what was making this delicious breakfast?” she asked, smiling as she admired their progress. 

“Hey, I helped!” Lily called out, waving her arms up and down. 

“Look at my little chefs,” their mother beamed proudly. “What is this fish head doing here?”

“Wait, Mom, that’s for lunch!” he said. “I was planning to make miso soup. I need it for the broth.”

“Oh, so you are making something like _ishikari nabe,”_ she said. 

“What’s that?” 

“It’s a miso soup with salmon. I remember when your grandmother would make that with rice bowls and seaweed.” 

“Ew, why would you eat _seaweed?”_ Lily asked, squinting at her mother. 

“Because if I didn’t, then I wouldn’t get dessert,” she chuckled. “And your grandmother made a very delicious batch of butter cookies.”

“We’re almost done, Mom. You can go sit down,” Kani said with a reassuring smile. He and Lily returned to adding the finishing touches to their breakfast. They proudly presented a tray that had a bowl of rice and a plate of baked salmon to their mother. 

“It tastes as delicious as it looks!” their mother said delightedly after she had taken her first bite. “Maybe I will let you cook more often, Kani.”

Kani gave a short bow. “Thank you, Mom. Um, if it’s not too much to ask… Lilith wants me to go to Mara’s party tonight.” 

She shook her head slowly. “You must look after your sister tonight. My boss called me to let me know we're understaffed so I'll be at work longer." 

He groaned and threw his head back. “Ah, come on! Can’t they find anybody else to do it?”

“I already agreed to go.” 

“Then couldn’t you find someone else to be _here?_ Lilith wants to see me and-” 

“No! I will not hear anymore of this conversation,” she stated firmly. “You will stay here until I come home.” 

Kani opened his mouth to say something but he closed it, knowing that there was no point in trying to argue against her. He bowed his head in respect and sat down at the kitchen table. He began to eat his rice, using chopsticks to bring the grains to his mouth. He closed his eyes, savoring the stickiness of the rice grains mixed with the creamy texture of the stirred egg yolk. It was mild in flavor by itself but adding salt and soy sauce gave it a bittersweet tang. 

Kani waited throughout the morning and afternoon before texting Lilith. _“I can’t make it to the party. I have to babysit my little sister._ ” 

She responded a few minutes later. _“Sneak out of the house, then.”_

He gasped softly and immediately replied. _“I can’t do that! I would be grounded for a whole year…”_

_“Then I’ll come to you. I’ll be there right after your mom leaves.”_

Kani bit his lip as he mulled the situation over. Is it worth it to take the risk? _“Okay, but take me home when I tell you to.”_

_“Deal. What time does your mom leave?”_

_“Five o’clock.”_

_“Okay, I’ll be there at 5:30.”_

He turned his phone off and sighed, burying his face into his hands as he felt the gravity of his choices bear down on him. “This better work…” 

Kani waited in anticipation for his mother to leave, counting each minute on the clock whenever he had the chance. The metaphors were right; time seemed to slow down whenever you watch it pass. He could feel the sweat run down his forehead as the hour hand gradually approached the number five. 

“Kani! Lily!” their mother called out as she pulled her coat on. “I’m leaving now. Kani, you will make dinner for the both of you. Do not misbehave. Goodbye!” 

He didn’t realize he was holding his breath as she went outside and gasped for air. As he let out a deep breath, he pulled his phone out to text Lilith. _“She’s gone.”_

Lilith arrived ten minutes earlier than he expected. As Kani prepared to leave, he turned to his sister. Seeing her young and innocent face made the weight on his shoulders feel so much heavier, so he knelt down in front of her. “Hey, would you like to come to a party with me?” 

Lily looked up at him and crossed her arms. “But Mom said-” 

“Mom said I had to look after you. What she _didn’t_ say was that we couldn’t go anywhere together.” 

“Where are we going?” she asked. 

Kani helped her get her coat on and zipped it. “We’re going to a party.” 

“What kind of party?” 

“A house party,” he answered, slipping her sneakers on and tying them. “Come on, we need to leave now.” 

As he led her outside to the car, he saw that Samuel was in the driver’s seat and Lilith was in the passenger seat. Lilith rolled the window down and scoffed when she saw Kani and his sister. “What are you doing? You can’t bring her.” 

“I am _not_ leaving my sister home,” he said firmly, gently squeezing Lily’s hand. “Anywhere I go, she goes with me.” 

Lilith rolled her eyes. “Whatever, just get in the car.” 

He nodded and they sat in the backseat, strapping the seatbelts over their chest. Samuel gave a sideways glance to Lilith before driving to Mara’s house.


	3. The Possession

They arrived at Mara’s house sooner than Kani expected. As he took in the sight of a beige house, he came to the realization that he had never seen Lilith’s house or visited her. What does her house look like? Is it in a suburban area like Mara’s? Does she even live nearby? He wanted to ask her, but… 

“Alright, get out,” Lilith ordered as she opened the door. “Your sister can go chill upstairs. Mara has a little brother so there are toys she can play with.” 

Moving out of earshot, she turned to Samuel and whispered to him. “Lock the door when you put his sister in the bedroom.” 

He nodded and approached Lily, holding his hand out in front of her. She looked up to Kani for his reaction, seeing him smile reassuringly and pat her head. Taking it as a sign that she will be safe, she let Samuel lead her upstairs. 

Kani turned to Lilith and crossed his arms in a lighthearted manner. “So what should we do?” 

She snorted in amusement. “What do you mean, we? I need to man the bar so dumbasses like Damien don’t drink themselves into a coma.” 

He raised an eyebrow. “Um, aren’t we too young to be drinking?” 

“That’s why we put a limit. Only one drink per person.” 

He nodded. “Yeah, that sounds alright. Although I feel bad for anyone who will get sick after one drink.” 

“They’ll be fine.” Lilith headed into the kitchen and stood behind the kitchen island, whose countertop was carved from white marble that had gray and black veins coursing through it. She began to set up her work area, placing bottles of various alcohol onto the counter. Rum, whiskey, gin… Kani couldn’t believe that there were so many bottles stored underneath the counter. 

“Hey, you want a drink or what?” she asked, placing a hand on her hip. 

He looked up at her. “What?” 

“You’re eyeballing those bottles like a boy who saw his first pair of tits.” 

His face flushed red and he scratched his head. “N- No, I was just surprised, that’s all…” 

She smirked and grabbed a highball glass cup from the cupboards. “I’ll make you a drink. Remember: that’s the only one you’re going to have.” 

He nodded. “I couldn’t drink a lot even if I wanted to. My family doesn’t process alcohol as well as white people do.” 

“Yeah, I’ve heard about that,” she said as she poured rum and coke into the glass. She added some lime juice to the mix and stirred it gently. 

“My father was a white American so maybe he gave me some strength to process those kinds of drinks.” 

“Perhaps,” she said absentmindedly, turning around to grab something out of view. She spun back and placed a sprig of mint on top of the cocktail. Lilith pushed the drink towards him with a smile on her face. “There you go. One Cuba libre.” 

He smiled at her and graciously took the drink. “Thank you, baby.” 

As time passed, more teens showed up to the party and Damien had used the home theater system to blast music. The speakers sent shockwaves through the house, causing furniture to vibrate across the floor. Kani recognized the artist behind the song and frowned. 

“Rob Zombie’s an odd choice to play as a casual house party,” he mumbled, staring into his drink. There was a bitter taste to it, but he figured that was just the lime juice. “This isn’t even a casual party anymore… It’s like a rave.” 

The house was flooded with cramped excitement as bodies crashed against each other and entangled as they danced. The music drowned out their cries of pleasure and deafened Kani to his own thoughts. He couldn’t bear to be part of it any longer so he went outside to the backyard, absorbing the night’s peaceful ambience. He sat down on one of the lawn chairs and finished his drink, swirling the last drop around the glass as he thought. He threw his head back to look up at the sky. 

“This party wasn’t worth my time…” he said to the stars. “I should get Lily and take her home now.” 

He came back inside and squeezed his way through the crowd of dancing people. As he pushed past them, he felt his legs give out and he stumbled onto his hands and knees. As he looked up, he realized that his vision was fading in and out. Desperate for help and scared of what’s going to happen, he reached his hand out as far as he could. He saw the silhouette of someone’s hand approach and he leaped forward, grabbing onto the stranger’s wrist. 

Kani was pulled onto his feet and he looked at his savior. He couldn’t make out the fine details of their face but he saw a blurry mass of red hair on top. “Thank you…” 

“No problem, Kani,” they said, the low pitch of their voice giving off a familiar tone. 

“Wait…” 

Kani heard Lilith’s voice call out to him and he turned in her direction. “Lilith?” 

She came closer and reached up, holding his face in her hands and pulling him down for a kiss. “I was looking for you.” 

He nodded slowly and closed his eyes, leaning against her touch. “I… I’m gonna go home, okay? Take us home…” 

She gave him a sympathetic smile and turned to Damien. “Grab the kid.” 

Kani looked between Lilith and the stranger, then the approaching Damien. His vision slowly faded to black and he went limp. 

* * *

_ “Alright, Gaven. Look over here,” Kani called out as he held up a Polaroid camera. When the red-headed boy turned to face him, he pressed the button and the camera made a shuttering sound. It spit out Gaven’s photo and Kani waved it in the air.  _

_ “Your camera is so cool!” Gaven giggled as he looked at his picture. “Where did you get it?” _

_ “My dad bought it for my birthday,” Kani answered, proudly putting his hands on his hips and grinning. “He was a professional photographer.” _

_ “How come I never see your dad around?”  _

_ Kani’s smile fell and he cast his eyes to the grass. “He died when I was younger…”  _

_ “I’m sorry,” Gaven said, placing his hand on Kani’s face.  _

_ The black-haired boy leaned against Gaven’s palm and closed his eyes. “At least you have a dad, Gav. I wish I did.” _

_ Gaven bit his lip softly and averted his gaze. “I wish I  _ didn’t…” __

_ Kani looked up at him. “What? Why?”  _

_ He sighed and met Kani’s gaze. “He… he does things to me…”  _

_ “What kinda things?” Gaven shook his head and covered his mouth with his hands, closing his eyes tightly. “You can tell me.” _

_ “I- I can’t,” he whimpered, tears welling up in his eyes. “If I tell-”  _

_ “Gaven, I promise that this is between us,” Kani urged, grabbing Gaven’s hand and squeezing it gently. Gaven refused to speak but he lifted his shirt up. His belly had a couple red and purple bruises and even more on his back. Some of them were vaguely shaped like teeth marks. “Your dad did this to you?” _

_ He pulled his shirt down and wiped his eyes with his palms. “Yeah…” The two boys stood there in silence for a few minutes before Gaven spoke again. “Do you… do you want to play house with me?” _

_ Kani chuckled softly. “What?” _

_ The red-haired boy twiddled his thumbs nervously. “Do you want to play house? You know… like girls do…”  _

_ Kani thought about it for a moment. “Can I be the dad?”  _

_ Gaven smiled. “Yeah.” _

* * *

Kani slowly opened his eyes and his vision adjusted to the darkness. He was in a bedroom, too unfamiliar to be his own. The walls were filthy from years of neglect and dust bunnies accumulated on the floor. Yellowed papers were taped on the wall, each one displaying a drawing that looked like it was made by a child. He squinted when his eyes rested upon a drawing of a crying wolf, feeling some sort of nostalgia as he stared at the picture.

He sat up and let his legs dangle over the edge of the mattress, burying his face into his hands. He let out a groan and looked up at the wall of drawings. After a while of staring blankly, he slid off the bed and his feet touched the hardwood floor. 

“I… need water,” he mumbled as he stumbled toward the door. His throat was terribly dry and he had a throbbing headache.  _ What happened last night? I only had one drink…  _

Kani went across the hall to the bathroom and leaned over the sink, splashing his face with cold water and drinking from his hands. When he looked up at his reflection in the cracked mirror, he cried out in horror and stumbled back to the wall, tripping on his feet and falling to the floor. He grunted in pain and frantically pulled himself onto his feet, latching onto the sink’s edge. He looked into the mirror again and stared at himself longer. 

His skin was horrifically pale, like the face of his grandmother when he saw her in the casket. His breath hitched as he poked and prodded his face, seeing small black veins become visible upon touching his skin. Kani instinctively pulled his hand away, but his frightening appearance kept him frozen to the linoleum tiles. 

His eye color, normally a warm shade of chestnut brown, had changed completely. His pupils were little more than miniscule black beacons in a pool of white fog. Kani felt his chest painfully tighten and he clutched his breast. As his heart thumped against his hand, he doubled over, coughing and gasping for air as he started to hyperventilate. 

Kani stumbled out of the bathroom, bracing himself against the wall that he crashed into as he went downstairs. He slipped on one of the steps in his hastiness and fell down the stairs, the edge of the steps scraping against his back. He let out a whine and stood up, rubbing his hands over his back to soothe the throbbing pain. 

“I- I need to go home!” he mumbled in panic as he hobbled toward the front door. “I need a doctor!” 

“You can’t,” he heard a voice say. Kani turned his head to look at the speaker and he dropped to his knees, staring at the person with his mouth agape. 

“Gaven…?”


End file.
